The Greater Cleveland Partnership has endorsed the Browns’ Brook Park stadium plan, breaking from city and county leaders.
In a statement, the region's chamber of commerce called the $2.4 billion stadium proposal “transformative” for the region.
“While a downtown dome is ideal, financial and development constraints have been challenging; the Brook Park option is more practical to move forward,” GCP wrote in a Tuesday statement. “The additional events, and expected growth in live entertainment, are an economic opportunity for the entire region.”
Dee Haslam, the chief executive officer of the Haslam Sports Group, is an executive committee member of GCP.
The endorsement directly opposes messaging from public officials in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, who say the deal will harm the region and taxpayers despite the Browns’ estimation of $1 billion in economic impact annually.
"It is the worst-kept secret in town that GCP’s leadership is disinterested in the work of revitalizing our region’s core," Kerry McCormack, the council member whose Ward 3 includes Huntington Bank Field, said in a written statement. "There should be a change of leadership at this increasingly irrelevant organization or an acknowledgment that they are here to represent the interests of only the ultra-wealthy. Clevelanders deserve a chamber of commerce with a backbone that champions the urban core.”
In response, the city and county will be severing all ties with GCP.
In a joint letter, Mayor Justin Bibb and Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne called the endorsement an "affront to any partnership we have had together" and said they will no longer participate in any GCP-led initiatives.
On Monday, County Executive Chris Ronayne said he will not financially or logistically support the move away from the Downtown Cleveland stadium after the Browns said they intend to move forward with or without Cuyahoga County.
The team is seeking $600 million in state-backed bonds to support the project. Ronayne is instead asking state legislators for $350 million to renovate the existing stadium.
